Dish Network in trouble again

Charlie Ergen’s Dish Network, never far from controversy, has been criticised by a Federal court judge for being “evasive” and “obstructive” during pre-trial discovery of documentation in a case alleging that Dish placed millions of unwanted telephone calls to consumers and violated telemarketing sales rules.

The suit was started by the USA’s Federal Trade Commission in August last year, and the FTC was particularly annoyed that Dish was allegedly flouting the basic rules of telesales in that it was calling consumers who had signed up to the USA’s ‘Do Not Call’.  FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz said he found it “particularly disappointing when a well-established, nationally known company — which ought to know better — appears to have flagrantly and illegally made millions of invasive calls to Americans who specifically told Dish Network to leave them alone.”

The FTC says it aims to stop the illegal calls and is seeking civil penalties for Dish Networks’ numerous alleged telemarketing violations.